I don't like me right now...I'm working on a job that takes most of my time and I would like to take this opportunity to say a shout-out to all those wives and mothers who work 9-5, face Lagos traffic and run home to cook and care for their families. YOU ARE AMAZING. I could slap someone at the end of each day, I'm so tired. Kai! Dear future-Nory, you BETTER be rich enough that the most worrying thing in my life is getting videoed while I beat my sister's hubby in an elevator.
Too soon? okay, okay, no more jokes on Solange...
I shot this a while back with uber-talented photog Emmanuel Oyeleke ( Hi Emmanuel! I miss you "waves").
That was a tough shoot for me (no, makeup work is rarely shits, giggles and glitter #DoseOfReality, kids) because the weather was soooo hot. I hope you guys like it though.
In hindsight, I feel (and I think you will agree with me) that products such as Laura Mercier oil-free primer under the foundation will help it hold on stronger to your face, wipe with Witch Hazel as a toner before (to reduce oil). Also eyeshadow will not crease if you go with Too Faced shadow primer under it (that primer is stronger than concrete mehnnn) and a super-duper waterproof eyeliner like Milani waterproof, Make Up For Ever Aqua Black or Bobbi Brown Gel liner.
I shot this with photographer Yomi Black, a wonderful model Paula (she's baesd in the UK) and a stylist. It was such a fun day and we finished quite late. Thanks to everyone who participated. And my favourite products of the day was Make Up For Ever flash palette and Sleek pout paint in Port Red.
Yep, I've been sniffing pink nail polish, how did you guess?? Lool.
It is close to Easter and you know what that means: Party time! Now I know you've gotten all your funky ankara styles sewn, you've done all your shopping (well done on NOT buying those clear stripper 6" heels, your mother would be so proud of you!), and you've perfected your dance steps, but there's one little thing you may have just forgotten.
Have you mastered your dark, smouldering, smokey eye?
Meet our Dark Arts model,Chioma!
I decided to give her a wearable smokey eye, something not too dramatic. I added a dash of unexpected lime-green to the inner corners of her eyes, to make her look awake. Here are some products I used:
MAC eyeliner, Paula Dorf primer, Maybelline brow pencil, Ben Nye loose powder, Revlon Matte lipstick, NYX lipgloss, MAC eyeshadow, Bobbi Brown eyeshadows
The smokey was made of a black eyeshadow (Bobbi Brown), a matte gray eyeshadow (Bobbi Brown) and the lime-green eyeshadow from MAC (it was a limited edition shadow called Sweet and Punchy).
I've been lucky to work in different
areas of the industry and no two areas of the industry are alike and what may
work in one, may often not fly in another. So let's talk about one subject I'm
really thinking a lot more about these days: Light.
actress on set for "The Johnsons",season 2
Ignore Ann. By the way, Ann is the chicken,
not the girl.
Look at her face. It does look shiny, right?
However, to the naked eye, my young client here looked perfectly fine. Observe
the strong shadows behind her. They were caused by the harsh lights on her (
and when i say "harsh", I mean standing under them melted cheap thick
hair cream to oils.). Those harsh lights would wash away almost all, but the
strongest of makeup.
And that's the point of my post: as a makeup
artist, it is your job to understand what your Lighting guy (tv and film), your
photograper or your Lighting crew (theatre) is doing. In general, photography
uses the least strength in Lighting, while theatre uses the strongest. So you
as a makeup artist should tone your makeup application down, in this order from
light to heavy: bridal, red carpet, runway, photoshoot, television, theatre. This arrangement depends on what your brief is sha.
Cameras see a lot better than the naked human eye (thank you, HD): if it looks
plastered on in real life and all you're doing is attending Tinuke's wedding,
and not being interviewed on ChannelsTV, it will look heavy in pictures and AGE
you. I've seen a lot of makeup artists make this mistake, and sometimes I'm
guilty of it too. And by the way, if it looks normal (bit of shine) to the
naked eye, well, definitely it's going to look greasy once the lights hit it.
The trick to use a foundation that is rich in pigment, and go easy on the
application.
A scene from the tv show "The Johnsons", MNET, when it was aired
I'll finish this post with a suggestion of
foundations in my opinion have worked for me. You, dear non -makeup artist readers of my blog, should give the commercially-available ones a try.
That's the only Spanish I know (that, counting 1-10 and "No, I'm not interested, just buy me a drink please". Don't ask me why I know that). Recently, I found myself out of breathe when climbing stairs and generally tired. So my doctor told me to add some aerobics to my lifestyle. Yep, he said "go and exercise, you're getting fat". Gorilla -__-
I tried jogging (got so bored and all the dust), skipping (does this jumping up and down give me wrinkles?), bicycle-riding (aarghh, I just fell off), swimming (mehn, the other chicks at the pool look so hot in their skimpy bikinis, shame caught me). Nothing was really working and my waistline was expanding. So my friend Win-Win invited me to go latin-dancing with her (dances like salsa, merengue, bachata, kizomba). I believe my first thoughts when I got there was:
"na wa for una, your ancestors didn't do this, they were content with Atilogwu, waddya mean I have to do turns in high heels, do I wear heels normally, una don marry sef, abegi I can't whip mah hair sexily like Shakira, it's natural, guy your finger will tangle inside if you attempt to run it through mah afro, I don't even understand dis music, wetin be dis craze, ehh?"
I kept an open mind, and I'm glad I did. Omo, you should see me, and now I wear hot outfits and heels every Thursday night. Even my sarcastic sister has started thanking God for my new lease on life.
So it got me wondering: "what type of makeup will last on my face during such exertion?"
Here are a few tried and tested products I think will make the grade:
Eyes: Revlon Colorstay eyeliner, Make Up For Ever Aqua Black eyeliner, Milani Liquif'eye metallic eyeliner (my new favourite), Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner, Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 hr cream shadow (my other new favourite. Maybelline Great Lash mascara amd Make Up For Ever mascara.
Lips: pretty much anything that has a lot of pigment and will pop and draw attention to your lips when you're doing a slow back-arch to the floor. Try Maybelline Colorsensational lipstick in Neon Red, MAC matte lipstick in Lady Danger, Sleek pout paint in Pinkini or Port Red, MAC lipstick in Ruby Woo (combine this with Zaron lip pencil in Red for a killer), Flormar Lipsticks, Black Up Jumbo lippencil (lip-pencil and lipstick combined in one), Julie Hewett Icons lipsticks (these are to die for).
from left: Laura Mercier oil-free primer, Julie Hewett lipstick, Black Up jumbo lippencil, Flormar lipstick, Maybelline Colorsensational lipstick, Sleep pout paint, MAC lipstick, Zaron lippencil, Maybelline 24-hr cream shadows, Bobbi Brown gel liner, MUFE Aqua eyes liner, Milani Liquif'eye liner, Maybelline Great Lash and Colossal Volume mascaras, Bodyography primer
I'll pretty much leave off powder, it can get gross having that sweat roll into thickly applied powder. Instead, why not opt for a matifying primer and Clean and Clear Blotting sheets, to keep the oil off, and you'll need some face tissues, to dab sweat off. There is a foundation that does hold up pretty well under these conditions, but it'll be my little secret for now (wink).
If you know you've got a hot night out, feel free to rock any of these. Salsa happens on Thursdays and Saturdays at Piccolo Mondo, Idejo street, VI. and there are salsa classes tuesdays and wednesdays. Just ask.
And if you're a married couple, grab your man and go learn Kizomba, a hot new Angolan dance, all I can say is ABEG NO DULL, GO LEARN IT GURL. In 9 months' time, come back with your testimony.
Hello everyone. Due to some recent events going on personally for me, I've been off blogging and even work. But I'm back, God-willing. I will be bringing you fun new posts, lots of pictures, please feel free to comment and interact.
I've come up with another insight into the life and times of a makeup artist who is telling the world what her life is as a makeup artist, a constantly evolving world in which Makeup and Art are inextricably linked together in a big red-lipstick-hued vortex. I have no idea what the sentence I just typed meant, but it sounded profound.
(Why are there no smilies on Blogger so I can laugh at my own dry jokes?!)
ANYHOO....
I had ze lovely opportunity to work on Channel O's tv show "Top Ten Most", where they discussed the music industry. OAPs, Music Managers, Entertainment writers and more were there, and they were pretty awesome. Plus my favourite director Mr. Banjo.
These guys were funny and made a long shoot seen effortless. Me like you guys! Sadly lighting was bad, so I couldn't get any pictures, but my makeup standouts were Ben Nye Mojave Powder Palette and Black Up Finishing Spray.
A very hilarious thing happened at the shoot, and one day I'll tell you.
